Job Search Secret for Finding the Best Leads
This job search secret is, in my opinion, the most powerful technique you can use. Discover the strategy that will help you find plenty of leads that others will never find.
So, what's the big secret?
It's simply committing to spend the majority of your time looking for opportunities in the hidden job market, and only spending a small portion of your time looking for advertised leads.
You think that's not much of a secret? Hear me out...
It's true that most people have heard of the hidden job market.
However, most job seekers do not effectively access the hidden market.
I have personally worked with about 2000 clients, and I know from that experience that most people do not even come close to fully accessing the unadvertised opportunities available to them.
Most people miss out on fantastic opportunities because they spend far too much of their time on advertised leads and too little of their time searching in the hidden market.
What You'll Find On This Page
- Why You Need to Spend More Time Looking for Hidden Leads
- A Bigger Job Search Secret - Unadvertised Jobs Are Often Better Jobs
- Point by Point Comparison - Advertised vs. Hidden Jobs
- Where to Find Unadvertised Leads
Searching for leads in the hidden job market is, hands down, the best job search secret you'll ever find. Please let me try to convince you to put more effort into finding hidden opportunities.
Why You Need to Spend More Time Looking for Hidden Jobs
How do you know if you're spending too much time pursuing advertised leads?
I would suggest that if you are spending more than 20% of your time pursuing advertised positions, then you are not spending enough time looking for unadvertised jobs.
That's right. I normally suggest clients spend 80% of their time looking for work in the hidden labor market.
Here's the Logic Behind This Job Search Secret
Approximately 80% of jobs are never advertised. So, if you're spending the majority of your time pursuing advertised positions, you are only finding 20% of the openings in your area.
You are missing out on a lot of great opportunities.
Think About it This Way
If 20% of jobs are advertised, and 80% are not advertised, that's how you should divide your time when you are looking for work. Spend about 20% of your time pursuing advertised leads and 80% of your time looking for unadvertised leads.
If you're not convinced of the power of this job search secret, here are a few points to consider:
- Because advertised jobs are advertised, they are easier to find.
- Finding hidden opportunities takes more work.
- Because advertised jobs are easier to find, a lot of people will find those vacancies. That means there is more competition for advertised jobs, so they are harder to get.
- Unadvertised jobs are harder to find, and, on top of that, fewer people actually look for these leads leads, so there is far less competition for unadvertised opportunities.
- That means, once you find the unadvertised lead, it's a lot easier to get the job; there's a lot less competition.
A Bigger Job Search Secret - Unadvertised Jobs Are Often Better Jobs
Advertised positions are easier to find and harder to get. Unadvertised job leads are harder to find, but once you find them, they are easier to get.
Employers often advertise only as a last resort.
They would rather not deal with the huge volume of resumes that will come in when they advertise. Also, many employers prefer, whenever possible, to hire someone who has been referred by someone they already know instead of a complete stranger.
That means advertised positions are usually the types of jobs that are harder for the employer to fill.
There are two main reasons why a position may be difficult to fill.
- Either the job is not ideal for some reason (low pay, poor working conditions, less than ideal hours, etc.).
- Or the employer needs someone with a very specific set of skills that is not easy to find.
If the employer does not need to advertise to fill a vacancy, it is probably not as difficult to fill, which often means it is a great opportunity that plenty of people would love to have.
Point by Point Comparison - Advertised vs. Hidden Jobs
To summarize the main reasons why this job search secret is so powerful:
Advertised
Unadvertised (Hidden)
20% of leads are here
80% of leads are here
Plenty of people look for advertised job leads
Far fewer people look in the hidden job market (that means less competition for you!)
Jobs are easy to find
Jobs are harder to find
Once you find them, they harder to get (there's more competition)
Once you find them, these jobs are much easier to get (there's less competition)
Often harder for employers to fill these vacancies (may mean a less than ideal situation)
Often easier for employers to fill these vacancies because they are good jobs that don't require uncommon skills (often the better jobs are in the hidden market)
If you limit yourself to searching for advertised leads, you are seriously limiting your job search.
If 80% of jobs are never advertised, and you are only searching for advertised jobs, that means, for every one great lead you find, there are 4 other excellent, unadvertised opportunities that you did not find simply because you weren't looking in the right places.
The best job search secret for finding great leads is to divide your time effectively between finding opportunities the hidden market and pursuing advertised opportunities.
Where to Find a Job
Here's how you can find vacancies that are not advertised:
Putting in the extra effort required to find unadvertised jobs and make this job search secret work for you is well worth your time and energy.
Spend about 20% of your time pursuing advertised jobs and 80% tapping into the hidden market to make the most effective use of your time and efforts.
